Haunted
by Syndaly
Summary: Hermione makes a choise she regrets, and severus gets the news. Inspired by Snycolecalvertaka Kittensamazhrea's challenege for a song fic. Hermione and Severus are J.K.'s, and the songs are evansence.


Hermione stared at her reflection. Madame Serena Flipslip, the newest and most fashionable designer in the upper level society, had just sent over the dress. Now, Hermione called it the dress, because it was an exclusive. Serena had made it just for Hermione. The crimson velvet bodice and skirt made her well maintained form even more appealing. Her hair lay in a pile of well manicured curls, and Hermione could only sigh at the black ribbon pulled taut around her neck, holding a large garnet in the hollow of her throat.

_Perfect by nature, icon of self-indulgence  
Just what we all need  
More lies about our world  
That never was and never will be  
Have I no shame, don't they see me?  
I know I've got everybody fooled._

She could pin point her pain to after the war. Ron and Harry, they were both gone. He swept her up into his world of perfect wives. But what did she expect from Draco Malfoy? He had changed sides after being beaten nearly to death after his mishap with Dumbledore's death. She didn't know that the world he lived in would have made her into…  
"A trophy." She sighed as she slipped into her matching heels.

_Look here she comes now -  
Bow down and stare in wonder.  
Oh, how we love you  
No flaws when you're pretending  
But now I know she –  
Never was and never will be  
I now know how I've betrayed me  
And somehow you've got everybody fooled._

As she walked down the stairs, Draco smiled to her. She couldn't help but feel trapped. He had been there though all of pain and suffering; she thought it meant love. It was only natural in the end for him to marry her. She was the brightest witch of her time. As she took his hand, she smiled the smile she had been giving him since they day they married.

_Without the mask  
Where will I hide?  
Can't find myself,  
Lost in my lies_

She saw Ginny, laughing beside Charlie on the far wall, and everything came flooding back. As she began to tear up, Draco hissed into her ear. "Get it together! You're embarrassing me!"  
Hermione looked him in the eye. "How can you speak to me like that?"  
"Oh stop the sulking." He said, and she saw a girl wink at Draco then, and he smiled back.

_I know the truth now  
I know who you are  
And I don't love you anymore _

Never was and never will be  
I now know how I've betrayed me  
And somehow I've got everybody fooled.

She couldn't stand it any more. She pulled from him and ran off to her room. Once inside, she grabbed the vase from beside the door and threw it at the mirror. As she ripped the garnet from her throat, she stared at her shattered reflection and spoke:

"Never was and never will be  
I'm not real, and I can't save me  
And somehow now I'm everybody's fool."

Severus Snape spit is coffee out of his mouth as he read the headline of the Daily Prophet blare "Malfoy Bride Dead By Own Hands." It was not possible; she had seemed so happy. He read on to find that she was being buried in a muggle cemetery by her parents, and slammed the paper down, catching Minerva's attention.

_Playground school bell rings, again  
Rain clouds come to play, again  
Has no one told you she's not breathing ? _

Hello, I'm your mind, giving you someone to talk to...

Hello...

"Severus?"  
"You prize pupil committed suicide. Hermione Malfoy is dead." Minerva yanked the paper from Severus. She gasped as she read, tears forming in the older woman's eyes. Leaving Minerva to grieve, Severus left the lounge to walk the ground. The June morning seemed duller that it should have. He remembered the last night he had spoken to the then Hermione Granger

_If I smile and don't believe  
Soon I know I'll wake from this dream  
Don't try to fix me  
I'm not broken  
Hello, I'm the lie living for you so you can hide...  
don't cry..._

The sobbing in the hall had begun to irritate him. The school was closed to rebuild from the final battle, were Severus had stood beside Potter and the Weasley boy, as well as Miss. Granger. Only she of the trio had survived, and when he found the sobbing to be hers, he couldn't find it in his heart to quiet her with a harsh tone.  
"Miss Granger, what might you be doing in this end of the castle? I was told you would be rooming in the new Gryffindor tower."  
She only looked at him, her eyes puffy.  
He scolded him self and tried to be more Dumbledore like. "What has caused you this grief, Miss Granger?"  
She shook her head. "You wouldn't understand."  
"Try me."  
She smirked slightly. "Draco asked me to marry him and I said yes." The shock he felt must have shown on his face, because she just wiped her face and continued. "He thinks that it is only right. But what about Ron, I mean, he and I were... and I feel like I am betraying him."  
"Nonsense. Be intelligent, woman. Go to Draco." He hoisted her up with his hand on her arms, and once she was standing, he looked her in the eyes. He had to turn away. "Go now."  
She just kept looking at him, and then, standing on her toes, kissed his cheek. "Stolen sweets are Best, Sir." She said, before heading off to her room.

_Suddenly I know I'm not sleeping  
Hello, I'm still here, all that's left  
Of yesterday... _

As he looked to the forming clouds, he couldn't help but feel like if he had understood her more, she would have been saved from what she considered her hell.


End file.
